Living The Lifestyle— Tuesday, February 13, 2018
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88olds
Posts: 4,491 Member
We meet here to explore, share, celebrate, and (sometimes) agonize over how we do (or don't) incorporate weight loss guidelines into our daily lives. "It's a lifestyle, not a diet" is easily and often said, but sometimes not so simply put into practice.
This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!
Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Thread starters for February are:
Monday - whathapnd (Emmie)
Tuesday - 88olds (George)
Wednesday - minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday - misterhub (Greg)
Friday - jasper60103 (Jasper
Today's Topic: Easy Does It
Reading “The Undoing Project” by Michael Lewis. Not done yet, but lots of discussion about the psychology of making choices. So, naturally I start thinking about weight loss. I also have a bit of a running debate with a MFP “friend,” not a GOADie, about suffering while losing weight. I think such suffering is the result of a bad plan. I remain ever greatful to Charlie for the concept of accepting some limits. But limits need not mean suffering. Rambling a bit.
So, what’s an example of something you’ve found to make your weight loss road easier? Maybe a comforting thought, maybe a good habit, maybe a gadget, maybe a fun activity, a bit of refraining? Anything at all that makes the “good” choice or choices more attractive. How does it make things easier? Hope this makes sense.
This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!
Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Thread starters for February are:
Monday - whathapnd (Emmie)
Tuesday - 88olds (George)
Wednesday - minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday - misterhub (Greg)
Friday - jasper60103 (Jasper
Today's Topic: Easy Does It
Reading “The Undoing Project” by Michael Lewis. Not done yet, but lots of discussion about the psychology of making choices. So, naturally I start thinking about weight loss. I also have a bit of a running debate with a MFP “friend,” not a GOADie, about suffering while losing weight. I think such suffering is the result of a bad plan. I remain ever greatful to Charlie for the concept of accepting some limits. But limits need not mean suffering. Rambling a bit.
So, what’s an example of something you’ve found to make your weight loss road easier? Maybe a comforting thought, maybe a good habit, maybe a gadget, maybe a fun activity, a bit of refraining? Anything at all that makes the “good” choice or choices more attractive. How does it make things easier? Hope this makes sense.
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One thing that I did early on when I started WW was to learn that eating a meal means eating a single portion. I did weigh/measure most of my meal components, and most importantly, served myself in the kitchen and left the remaining meal in the kitchen. This was a great habit, because it removed the "suffering" of having to sit there with extra food just an arm's reach away and trying to avoid eating more by sheer willpower!
It turns out that one portion is actually enough to feel full/sated at any given meal. Who knew?
I will add one more thought, though: suffering is not a bad thing, particularly if it is limited in scope. After all, to lose weight, we need to eat less than we "want." Intrinsically, to me, that seems to be a mismatch between one's internal expectations (I want more food, therefore I should have more food) and the needs of reality (if I eat more food I won't lose weight).
But...I'm also sensitive to the idea that *too much* suffering can also drain one's energy and willpower.0 -
I like Steve's thoughts. Nothing profound and even some craft brew0
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Good thoughts @steve0mania!
I will add that I make room in my calorie budget every day for some sort of chocolate treat. I've tried to go without before but that just results in me eventually having a binge. A little something every day makes things go much smoother.1 -
I agree with @gadgetgirlIL, daily treats definitely make things better. I don't have to binge all the oreos because there will always be another serving that I can have tomorrow.
I'll also add finding an activity you actually like. Spending hours on the elliptical or spin bike was mind numbing torture for me. I didn't understand why anybody wanted to spend time at the gym. Then I found sports like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Aerial Arts. Who knew you could get in shape doing something fun????1 -
Another vote for a daily treat.
And this. The process is more important than the points. (Calories here on MFP) My week was Sunday to Sunday. I made some sort of mistake. Here it was the end of the day Wednesday and I was out of WPA. Thursday and Friday were work days and I could get by on dailies. But Saturday? Saturday I went to the gym in the morning. I wanted to leave the gym at about 11:15 and hit Pita Inn before the rush. I could get the grilled chicken, but I wanted Hummus too! I needed points!
Add extra exercise and risk injury? Don’t eat anything else on Saturday? Quit tracking and start over next week? I was really unhappy. Bummed out. Really. A weight loss existential crisis.
The answer? I gave myself 5 more WPA and just finished everything else like a normal week. Why derail an otherwise working program over what worked out to be a 5 point mistake? I think I still registered a small loss for the week. Maybe I broke even. But the easy answer was 5 more WPA.
Preserve the process, fudge the points.
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@steve0mania "It turns out that one portion is actually enough to feel full/sated at any given meal. Who knew?"
I was just discussing this with DW on how I need to tighten up portions and was afraid I would not eat enough. So I am feeling the way Steve has said. Why am I afraid? I really don't know. I went from a huge eater to smaller portions but it is not enough to keep my weight loss going. Exercise is hard for me due to disability's makes it a bit harder.
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"Jerdtrmndone wrote: »...and was afraid I would not eat enough.
We used to discuss this on the old GOAD board. The psychology is fascinating. Somehow we feel like we're off on a three week hike in the wilderness with no food available! I don't know why. So what if we get hungry before dinner? We're about to have dinner! It's pretty unlikely that we're going to starve to death between lunch and dinner, and yet, many of us have the same fear!
Someone once said that a little hunger is not the end of the world, anyway! You *should* be hungry before a meal!
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No one ever starved to death between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner
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beachwoman2006 wrote: »No one ever starved to death between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner
Now between dinner and breakfast...........0 -
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The hours between 6 and 11 are grazing time. Always the hardest for me.0
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I go back to the beginning--my first week of WW. I had gone to an intro meeting as a visitor. I signed up a couple days later. That week I used our (very old) home scale and was so pleased to have lost almost 10 pounds. When I stepped onto the WW scale for the first time, the result there was that I'd actually gained four, I think.
In the course of a half-hour, my mind raced through the idea of getting home to look at Amazon and buying the best scale I could--to about a half-hour later somehow coming to the realization I wasn't going to weigh myself at home. I think I had read a lot of the realities of weight loss in the archives of GOAD by that time and just decided I'd let the process take its course while bypassing all the drama of a daily weigh-in.
For the next year and a half, while watching most of my meeting colleagues stress about the scale and obsess over daily fluctuations, I felt like I got a pass from all the tension and anxiety. Yes, of course I wanted the scale to go down. Again, GOAD taught me the reality that we always get the weight we deserve, just maybe not when we expect it. So, I'd get my weekly WI number and keep moving.
I have been a daily weigher at home since reaching goal more than two years ago. I can see how those fluctuations can drive people crazy. They can to me too, but only if I let them. Like so much else, that's more mental for me than a real reflection of how I'm doing overall. Sure, there are times I get pissed at the scale but I try to limit it to a minute or less--certainly not an hour or a day!
In hindsight, I'm grateful for my weight gain in week one. Together with what I'd already learned from GOAD, it set the stage for bypassing one of the biggest challenges and frustrations for so many people trying to lose weight!1 -
Agree re hunger. What I once regularly described as starving was actually no more than a bit of temporary discomfort.0
